And so, after some sound and a little fury, we’re right back where we started on the reflected-glare issue between Museum Tower and the Nasher Sculpture Center, long-feuding Dallas Arts District neighbors.

Trustees of the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, which owns the tower, were told Thursday that there is only one solution to the glare problem, and that involves re-orienting the light receptors on the Nasher roof.

Museum Tower officials said they’d pay for testing the concept on a section of roof. If the test were successful and the solution accepted by the Nasher, Museum Tower would then pay for the full installation.

A few hours later, though, Nasher officials rejected the tower’s conclusion. The contentious dispute is now well into its second year.

“The glare from Museum Tower is a problem for the entire Arts District, not just the Nasher Sculpture Center,” Nasher officials said in a statement.

“Recycling the same grossly inadequate and deeply flawed idea in another publicity stunt is not a way to address the problems Museum Tower is causing for the people of Dallas. The bottom line is that the owners of Museum Tower need to fix their building.”

Museum Tower officials also said last October that the best way to fix the glare involved the Nasher roof. At that time, though, tower officials were also considering a couple of other options, including a spray coating for the tower’s windows.

What’s different now?

Further study by the tower’s scientists and other specialists, tower officials said, has confirmed that the Nasher roof solution is the best way to eliminate glare. Other potential fixes — more than 20 have been studied — won’t work, they said.

“The only 100-percent solution is the one we’re proposing,” said Greg Greene, one of the original co-developers of Museum Tower.

It’s the only remedy that restores the viewing conditions inside the Nasher galleries to the way they were before the tower was built, Greene said. He added that Museum Tower has spent more than $1 million studying potential solutions.

Nasher officials have consistently rejected any changes to the roof of their building, designed by famed architect Renzo Piano. They have favored putting glare-shielding louvers on Museum Tower, an idea that tower representatives say won’t work.

At their regular monthly meeting Thursday, police and fire trustees saw a seven-minute video touting the Nasher roof solution and the tower as a place to live. Condos there start at more than $1 million and generally run to more than $4 million each. The video was produced and narrated by former KXAS-TV anchorman Mike Snyder, now a crisis management consultant.

The video, scientific studies and other materials supporting Museum Tower’s proposed fix are posted on the Internet at oculisolution.com.

Museum Tower officials call the proposed changes to the Nasher roof modest and nearly invisible to the general public. The receptors, called oculi, would be redesigned and aimed away from the 42-story condominium across the street.

The Museum Tower presentation Thursday also said the glare caused no damage to the Nasher’s outdoor garden, a point disputed by the Nasher.

“The damage to the garden may be imperceptible to them,” said Peter Walker, the landscape architect who designed the Nasher’s garden. “But it’s very perceptible to us and our consultants. They’re simply looking at the garden and saying, ‘This doesn’t make any difference.’ Over long periods of time, it makes a lot of difference.”

On April 26, tower officials said, they presented their engineering and scientific reports regarding the proposed roof modifications to Nasher trustees, including board president David Haemisegger and Nancy Nasher Haemisegger, daughter of late Dallas businessman and art collector Ray Nasher.

Museum Tower expected a response, but none came, tower officials said. Because some pension system trustees had asked for an update on the situation, the same presentation was made to them Thursday. Afterward, the Nasher responded with its rejection statement.

In the past, tower officials have acknowledged that the controversy has hurt condo sales. After the trustees’ meeting, pension system administrator Richard Tettamant said four units have sold in the past 30 days, bringing the total to 12. A handful of others await closing, he said. There are about 100 units in the building.

Greene said he was happy with the sales progress. From the beginning, he said, tower officials expected that it would take four years to sell all of the condos, which equates to about two units a month. The first residents moved in at the end of last year.

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